One of the NBA’s best point guards through the 1990s and 2000s, Jason Kidd was revered by young basketball players everywhere, especially those playing the point.

Now entering his second year as a head coach, J-Kidd is getting the opportunity to teach players who grew up idolizing him. The latest is new Milwaukee Bucks point guard Kendall Marshall.

Los Angeles Lakers v Los Angeles Clippers

Marshall was waived by the Los Angeles Lakers July 18th, and was subsequently claimed by the Bucks on July 20th.

Just like Jason during his playing days, Marshall is known as a pass-first point guard who specializes in sending assists all over the floor. The Thursday after picking up Marshall off waivers, the Bucks dedicated their “Throwback Thursday” to a post the guard made on Instagram when Jason, “one of his idols,” retired.

In a recent phone interview with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Marshall reiterated his feelings about playing under Coach Kidd.

“I think it will be big,” Marshall said of playing for Jason. “He understands me. We both have a pass-first mentality. He’s a guy I’ve always looked up to.”

Marshall should fit nicely into the puzzle for the Bucks, who have a backcourt stacked with combo guards who can shoot-and drive, including incumbents Brandon Knight, O.J. Mayo, Milwaukee Also has a third dynamic scorer in second-year swingman Giannis Antetokounmpo. All three can handle the ball, but none have quite the passing skills of Marshall.

“I’m very excited about it. I like the young core they have,” Marshall said. “They’ve got a couple scoring guards and maybe I can take the pressure off them and let them focus on that.”

Last season, Marshall tallied eight points and dished out 8.8 dimes per game for the Lakers, which put him at a tie for No. 2 in the league in assists behind only Chris Paul. Los Angeles let Marshall’s contract expire and reportedly planned to pick him back up once the waiver period was over, until Milwaukee swooped in and claimed the former North Carolina Tar Heel.

Now, the dime machine will go to work and learn under the second-best assist man of all time.

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